GMan, Japanse fathers work insane hours without overtime. If any of their superiors are still at the office they stay even if they have nothing to do. If any superiors will be at the office on Saturday or Sunday, they go to the office, even if they have nothing to do. So the government created holidays like "Ocean day" and "Green day" to get Japanese fathers home with their kids or to go out and do things with their kids... unfortunately, if any superiors are going to be at the office...

The three days at the start of this month are put together to create "Golden Week" to give families an opportunity to travel. Sadly, when I drove by the school today, I could see many teachers working in the office.

So the Japanese know how to create holidays, but not so much how to celebrate.